MLB Bullets Is On The Shelf

The season has started and that means less talk and more rock. In case you're a new reader, I don't link to game stories because I assume you know how to find those on your own. In case you don't know, I'll do it one time. The Pirates beat the Cardinals, the Blue Jays beat the Rays and the Royals beat the Mets.

• We start with the butcher's bill. Diamondbacks outfielder A.J. Pollock fractured his right elbow in an exhibition game on Friday night. The D-Backs aren't saying how long he'll be out, but you know it's bad when Pollock says that he hopes to return this season. A similar injury in 2010 cost Pollock the entire year.
• Christina Kahrl writes that Pollock's injury puts a huge dent in Arizona's plans to compete for a playoff spot this summer.
• Matt Snyder analyzes how big a blow this is for the Snakes.
• The Diamondbacks are considering signing Michael Bourn or Will Venable to fill in for Pollock.
• Bourn is available because the Braves cut him. In fact, the Braves cut their two highest-paid players in Bourn and Nick Swisher.  Lucky for Atlanta, most of the salary for those two is paid by the Indians.
• The Orioles wanted to send Korean OF Hyun Soo Kim down to the minors, but he wouldn't give his permission, per his contract. So the Orioles ended up keeping Kim on the 25-man roster.
• Miguel Gonzalez did not make the Orioles roster. Jeff Sullivan offers some explanations as to why the pitching-starved Orioles would cut him.
• The Pirates and Gregory Polanco have reportedly agreed on a five-year extension.
• Pablo Sandoval has lost his starting job in Boston, just one year after signing a big free agent contract. Tim Brown asked Carl Crawford what it was like to be hated in Boston. Boy, Crawford appreciated that question. But he handled it like a professional.
• Scott Lauber writes that Sandoval's benching is a sign that management has run out of patience for the Red Sox losing ways in recent seasons.
• Will Leitch has an in-depth preview of the Cardinals from a Cardinals fan's point of view. He says only Cardinals fans should read it, but when are you going to do anything a Cardinals fan tells you to do?
• The Cardinals lost Opening Day and lost outfielder Tommy Pham to an injury. Scott Lauber says the Cardinals injuries are starting to mount.
• Oh yeah? How about the Reds? They've got an entire starting rotation on the DL to start the season.
• Marcus Stroman looked like his pre-injury self in the Blue Jays Opening Day win.
• Anthony Castrovince lists 13 players primed to "break out" this season. Although he admits he doesn't know what "breakout" means anymore.
• Will Leitch predicts whose jerseys will be the most-popular sellers in 2016.
• Paul Lukas has his annual list of all the changes in major league uniforms for 2016. Long but worth it.
• The Cleveland Indians have demoted their Chief Wahoo logo to secondary status. Continuing to quietly discontinue it, but they deny that they have any intention of ever eliminating it entirely. Do the right thing, Cleveland.
• Apparently Edinson Volquez did not get the memo that the Royals spring training hat is NOT one of the changes for the regular season, as Volquez pitched the first inning last night wearing the Spring Training cap.
• David Schoenfield predicts that the Royals will continue to outperform their preseason predictions in 2016.
• Todd Rosiak has an analysis of the Brewers 25-man roster. See how far down you can go before you say "Who?"
• The Brewers took on their Double-A affiliate, the Biloxi Shuckers, in an exhibition game on Saturday. Assistant hitting coach Jason Lane hit a pinch-hit home run in that game.
• Athletics pitcher Jarrod Parker had successful elbow surgery on Friday.
• The A's now play in the Oakland Coliseum again, as the "O.co" branding is gone.
  
• Michael Hiltzik writes that the fiasco that is the Dodgers television contract shows that there is a limit to how much greed you can get away with in baseball.
• Trayce Thompson, the brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, made the Dodgers Opening Day roster.
• Craig Calcaterra offers his thoughts on his ambiguous feelings towards Opening Day.
• There were lots of gags in baseball for April Fools Day last Friday. The Astros' Carlos Gomez and Jose Altuve switched pants. Gomez is 6'3" and Altuve is generously listed at 5'6".
• The Blue Jays offered Chris Colabello $15,000 if he could eat 8 pounds of mac and cheese at one sitting. He failed.
• Hunter Pence and his fiancée adopted a minor leaguer for April Fools Day.
• And finally, Mike Trout and the Angels decided to play an elaborate practical joke on teammate Garrett Richards.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.